


i wanna hold you like you're mine

by furiouscatlover



Category: DSAF, Dayshift At Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Eat the Rich (sorry dave /j), Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, Forced Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Ignore that last tag, Implied/Referenced Torture, Light Angst, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, Strangers to Lovers, Underlying themes, lots of talking about henry miller, olive garden
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27415780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furiouscatlover/pseuds/furiouscatlover
Summary: dave has money, and jack does not.they work something out.(title is from agnes by glass animals)
Relationships: Dave Miller/Old Sport | Protagonist (Dayshift at Freddy's), Jack Kennedy/Dave Miller (Dayshift at Freddy's)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

Dave slammed his hand down on the alarm clock, silencing it. He yawned, getting up from his plush and warm bed. He was still exhausted. The mere two hours of sleep didn’t do anything for his sleep deprivation. He had been up all night, working on his next project, and felt like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep at all. What was worse was that he had hardly gotten much done either. There was a deadline next week and he wasn’t even halfway done. 

It seemed like just yesterday he was in his flimsy apartment recording the voice lines and setting up the business plan. He was amazed about how fast his business grew- well, he did have a lot of help from Henry, before he had left. Dave quite literally had no idea where he went, but he felt much happier without him. 

Traitor. 

The word lodged itself into his head, whispering but harsh and rough. 

He did feel happier without Henry, yet he had all of these responsibilities now. The business gave him so many things to do. He had to worry about the income, the employees and their demands, and each individual restaurant. 

He  _ had  _ made a few changes at least. Some that Henry would have disapproved of (who was he kidding… Henry would’ve hated all of them), but he thought they were great. Firstly, he got rid of the whole faztoken-as-payment thing, replacing it with a minimum wage salary. Next, he made sure phone people could go back to their families. Then, the whole process of making phone people became a lot less gorey (he just put phone heads on the people who signed up. No death, gore, or blood, and it saved Dave money. He hated how much it was about money).

Dave looked up to his elegant painted ceiling. He always wondered why Henry had chosen that specific design. The painting was a wonderful mess of pastel pink swirls, fluffy clouds circling into a gorgeous night sky. Stars surrounded a crescent moon. Dave liked to look at it and imagine he was actually under the night sky. 

He sighed, knowing that the house wasn’t ever his to begin with, seeing as Henry bought it. He had given it to him, along with a note that had been ripped on the end. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the careful words in black ink. They were slightly smudged, but he could still read it. 

_ William,  _ (Dave always winced at the name.)

_ I leave you my house, and my company. Don’t ruin it. You should find someone to be with. But, remember…  _

Then it cut off. Dave didn’t know what Henry meant by “remember”, but the warm and caring tone was unusual (welcome, but a little off). Either way, he cherished it. It was one of his most prized possessions. 

He checked his phone. The dating app he was currently looking on was completely boring- well, it wasn’t the people on there. He just didn’t click instantly. He knew, naturally, that you shouldn’t feel like you had to instantly connect with someone over an image. Still, he just couldn’t bond. It was even worse on the dates.

Dave pondered about a specific date. The person was very kind and talkative, and asked a lot about the company, but they had brought up Henry. And Dave had gotten scared, and stood up abruptly to go hide in the bathroom again, but he had knocked over his plate of food. The rest of the night was awkward, and his date had been quiet the rest of the time. Dave didn’t want that to happen again.

Another one had taken one good look up and down, and had flat out rejected him on the spot.

He went on many,  _ many  _ more similar dates after that. All of them were either uninterested throughout the whole time or flat out rejected him at the start. It made him kind of sad, but over anything it made him want to stop looking. 

Still, he owed it to Henry. For whatever reason, the man wanted him to be with somebody. It was an odd request- he wondered  _ why  _ a lot of the time, but it was the least he could do. He just wished he could get the reasoning behind it.

He kind of missed Henry.

But, he was gone for a reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys enjoy !! this is very all over the place right now, but i just needed to introduce all of the main plot points first. we'll get to the good stuff very soon ;)
> 
> my assumption right now is that it will be 20 chapters at the moment !! it'll be very fluffy too. there will be some angst as well, but that's expected of me. anyways, thanks for reading and i can't wait to continue this !!!


	2. Chapter 2

“You have another date set up,” Rebecca, Dave’s assistant, told him. “You should leave early to go meet him. I came all the way from the office to come get you.”

“What’s the point,” he groaned. He was lying face down on his bed. He knew it was quite immature. Really, though, he couldn’t care. He was tired. Tired of all of the failed dates, and the deadlines, and the work. He shouldn’t be complaining, at least- he had a wonderful house, a great assistant, and a good career that Henry had set up. Still, he could wallow in his self pity for a while longer.

“You’re going to be late,” Rebecca’s exasperated voice told him. Dave sighed internally, getting up. 

“Thank you, Becca.” 

The woman let out a little unamused sigh. “I asked you not to call me that.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s fine. I recommend you start getting ready- would you like me to pick something up for your date?” 

Dave stretched, not bothering to fix his messy hair. “It’s fine. Thank you anyways.” She was the world’s best assistant, and he’d be sure to give her a raise considering that he could afford it. And if he couldn’t, he could always take the money out of his own paycheck. He didn’t mind it. 

If anything, it happened often. His employees would complain about the pay, and he’d forfeit his own paycheck for a month or so until he could come up with something to bring up the sales. It’s not like he was going poor because of it- he had enough money as it was, and he didn’t exactly need a huge paycheck. 

He didn’t know what he’d do without Rebecca- probably be late for meetings, forget when the health inspectors checked in, and not remember important dates. She was great.

Dave yawned, snapping away from his thoughts, and stood up. He was dreading this next date. He wondered how badly he was going to make for himself now. 

“You can go home for the day,” Dave told her.

“Are you sure..? Will you be fine?” Her shoulders tensed up a little. Something all of the phone headed people learned to do, after the loss of being able to express facial expression, was to use body language. Dave thought it was interesting. 

And, Rebecca was so thoughtful. She always made sure he never overworked and was concerned about his well-being. And she even baked him pastries sometimes.

“Yep! Thanks fer yer help!” He had always been a little overly aware of his distinct New York accent. A side effect of growing up on the streets, perhaps. Although some people said it turned into other accents sometimes. He wondered if he picked it up from Henry, or some of the shows he watched. Some of his dates liked it a lot, at least. They said it made him sound like a businessman.

Rebecca nodded, then walked away. Her heels clicking on the hard floor told him that she was leaving, and the door slamming told him she had left.

Dave dug through his closet slowly. He should’ve hurried, but he wanted to try to drag it out as much as he could. Eventually he realized he couldn’t make it take any longer and eventually threw on a blue button up shirt and casual dress pants. 

He finished putting on his clothes and walked out, hurrying out to his car. He didn’t even lock the door, because he was running late as it was. Dave hurriedly threw on his seat belt and drove to the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet his date.

Dave tried not to overthink it- for once, he’d try not to ruin the date. Every time he over-thought it, he got all nervous and just didn’t speak. Henry hated it when he got nervous, because he’d stutter and get “wishy-washy”. He said it was better to be silent then to stutter.

He promised himself this would be the last time he tried going on these dumb stupid dating app things. If this one turned out to be shitty, that is. The people were usually great, but it was Dave himself that sorta ruined it.

Dave realized he had passed the coffee shop. 

“Shit,” he said to himself.

He really hoped his date didn’t mind how late he was. 

Taking out his keys, he remembered to lock his car door this time and walked inside. There were a few people, but the most noticeable was a man sitting next to the glass window. 

The man had orange fluffy hair that looked like it was dyed cheaply, deep brown eyes that betrayed nothing about him, and had a split in his left eyebrow. His skin was a soft but warm brown, although it wasn’t as dark as Dave’s skin. The man wasn’t smiling, but his lips were slightly parted. He was missing his front teeth, which was pretty cute. Actually, it was very cute.

The man looked bored. He was resting his head on his hand, yawning a bit. Dave immediately realized that this was the man he was supposed to meet. Their eyes met. Dave hurried over to him, sitting down. The man held his hand out, something he reminded himself many times to do on the way here.

“Nice to meet you,” Dave said. He, at least, knew how to do that. Greeting others, at least. He hoped Henry’d be proud, but it was wishful thinking on his part. Or, maybe it wasn’t. He wouldn’t know, as it had been a few years.

Here, from the faint light coming in through the window, the man’s skin seemed to almost glow. Dave didn’t want to fall in love with everyone he met- he didn’t, most of the time, usually turned but… 

“You’re late,” The man said.

“Oh.” Dave didn’t even realize it. Well he did, but he hoped it wouldn’t be that big of an issue. This man seemed stern suddenly, and Dave tensed up. “Sorry.”

The man shrugged. “I don’t mind.” 

_ Thank god.  _ He was happy that the man wasn’t angry. At least, not anymore. If he was ever angry in the first place.  _ God Dave, why can’t you be less… like this? _

Dave instantly liked him now. He couldn’t exactly place what the man’s personality was like, but it was nice. He liked it. He was full of… of spunk, as Henry might say.  _ God damnit _ , Dave thought.  _ You can- no, you shouldn’t be thinking about him this much. He left for a reason. _

He was about to go into another self deprecating train of thought (why did they even call it a train of thought? What did that even mean?) but he was stopped by his date beginning to talk.

“I’m gonna be completely honest with you,” the man said in a firm but gentle voice, which surprised Dave. “I’m not in this for the romance. I’m just in this for the money.” 

“That’s fine,” Dave said happily. He was just grateful this man was giving him a chance. He was tired of all of the rejection.

The man’s face was a little shocked at his reaction. “Oh, uh, well… alright then. Alright.”

The two were silent for a moment- the man looked slightly uncomfortable, but Dave found it pleasant. The background noise of others conversing was a little too loud, but he could manage for a while.

“So…Dave…” He was a little surprised the man knew his name, but then remembered the dating app displayed it. Of course. He panicked for a moment because he couldn’t remember the man’s name. “What’s your… favorite…color..?”

“Purple!” He said instantly, then instantly mulled over what his name was again.

“Did you dye your hair?” The orange haired man asked in genuine interest.

“Nope! All natural.” 

He nodded. “Mine is dyed.” Was it Noah? No, he didn’t really look like one. A Noah, that is.

He looked closer. The man had some scars on his face. Well, he sort of noticed it earlier, but he just  _ actually  _ noticed it.

“How did you get those?” Dave asked. 

The man responded quickly. “I could ask you the same question.” If Dave had talked back like that to Henry, he would’ve gotten- “Sorry. I got into an accident a while ago.” 

“That’s fine. They look nice on ya.” The man’s face turned slightly red at the compliment, but otherwise his composure was well put together. 

“I bet that’s how you got yours as well, then?” 

“Ah, yep.” Dave paused, remembering something distinctly. The clawing of a knife against his skin. The specific copper smell that filled his nose. The sound of skin tearing. “An accident as well.” 

The man nodded. He traced the rim of his coffee cup, which Dave just noticed was there. His date then just made some face full of realization. “Did you get anything to drink?”

“Oh, no! I… I didn’t, I didn’t wanna be late.”

“Do you want me to go get something for you?” Dave was rather taken aback by his thoughtfulness. 

“Um, sure!” He smiled at the man for a few moments until realizing he was supposed to say what he wanted. “A normal coffee should e fine.” Normally, Dave would’ve ordered something extremely sugary, but he wanted to be sophisticated. This date was going great so far, and he wanted to be mature.

“Do you want room for cream? Or sugar..? You look like the kind of guy to add a bunch of sugar.”

“...Please,” Dave said quietly. The man let out a small giggle, and Dave felt his cheeks go red.

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” The orange-haired man smiled. It looked wonderful. His gap tooth was adorable as well.

He stood up, and went to go stand in line. 

Dave looked around the coffee shop. It was pretty standard, with normal brown colors and sleek tables and chairs. He was lost in thought over this date, and how incredibly wonderful it was going.

His date returned after. “Sorry for taking a while.”

“It’s fine! You didn’t take too long,” Dave reassured him.

“I took fifteen minutes…”

“Oh.”

“Just kidding, it was, like, three minutes.”

Dave laughed. To say he was already head over heels in love with this man was scary, but wonderful. Terrifying. Henry once told him, in the middle of one of his drunken fits, that Dave loved all at once. Like a hurricane, or a storm. It made him scared to fall in love. 

He took the coffee and took a drink- it was sugary and sweet. Just how he liked it. “How did ya know my exact coffee order? Other than just sugar, that is.”

“Ah, well… lucky guess.” The man was a little bitter and rude at first, but he was warming up quickly. Like a cat, maybe. Dave had always wanted a cat. His mind flashed to getting to know this man better, and to maybe even marry him. Getting a cat, moving away to the countryside. It was a nice thought. Then he remembered Henry, and the company. 

“It  _ was  _ lucky,” Dave said with a grin.

The man nodded with a small smile, then it disappeared. He leaned back into his chair and took a sip of his coffee.

The rest of the time, which really couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, was spent in small conversation. The man asked about his job a bit, and Dave found out that he worked at a coffee shop (not this one, his date revealed he thought it’d be weird to go on a date at his work). He found out a little more, but before he could ask if the man was having a good time, he had stood up.

“I need to go home now,” he said. He wasn’t smiling.

“Ah, alright. It was nice to meet you...uh…” He desperately tried to remember one last time what the man’s name was. “Old Sport!” Dave couldn’t stop himself from the nickname. He remembered it was from that film he watched all the time. The movie that Henry used to put on to- well, either way, he had loved it.  _ The Great Gatsby,  _ that was what it was called.

“Old Sp-?” His date looked confused, but shook his head. “It was nice to meet you too.”

Dave took out a pen (Rebecca insisted he always had one on him) and grabbed a napkin. He scribbled his number out, thankful he remembered that at the least, and handed it to his date. “Will you call?”

“Maybe. Work is pretty busy lately. With the warm weather, you’d think people wouldn’t want coffee,” he said with a slight grin. 

Dave was hoping he’d ask if he’d want to go out on another date, but maybe they didn’t click as well as Dave thought they did. Either way, he grinned back at the man’s comment. He stood up, shaking the other’s hand, and hoped the man would text him at least. He walked out of the coffee shop.


	3. Chapter 3

Dave’s eyes hurt. 

He spent hours with his phone on the loudest possible setting, wishing and waiting so badly for his date to call back. He had looked at the man’s dating site profile and found out that it had been deleted. So, as long as he didn’t know his name, he couldn’t find his social media. He considered asking Rebecca to help remember, but he was already embarrassed enough as it was. 

_ Desperate much?  _ Henry’s haunting voice rang in his head. It happened sometimes, but mostly when he was tired.

Still, he needed to work. So that’s exactly what he did. He didn’t stop thinking about the man with the orange hair though.

While he waited, he drafted up a new idea, a “start your own restaurant kit”. Rebecca had really liked it, and said it was a great idea. It was enough for Dave to continue with, at least.

He went to sleep the next night disappointed.

The next day, he woke up and procrastinated. Dave was trying to think of ways for the ‘start your own restaurant kit’ to have everything needed, while still having all of the essentials, but he couldn’t think of anything at all. 

He did usually work at the office, but he found it easier to focus when he worked at his own house. His mouse dragged to the email icon, and he slowly began typing to Rebecca and telling her she didn’t need to go to the office today. Dave clicked sent, then leaned back. 

Maybe he should check on the other restaurants? It had only been a few months, but he couldn’t think of anything better to do. 

He completely remade the kit, and although it took the entire day (and working into the night), it was perfected. To the best of his ability, of course. He’d try to make it better later, but after working that much on something he was pretty burnt out.

The next day was mostly him catching up on the sleep he had been lacking lately. He told Rebecca to go into the office if she wanted to, but she didn’t need to. After that, he crashed on his couch and slept for hours. He woke up in the middle of the night, ordered a pizza, then fell back asleep without eating it.

Three days after the somewhat successful date Dave had, he walked into his office, seeing his assistant typing on her computer.

“I’m gonna go out of state and check up on some of our other restaurants,” Dave told Rebecca. 

She looked up from her seat. “Do you want me to buy you a plane ticket?”

He nodded. He desperately needed to get out of here. If he could leave for a bit, maybe he could forget the man and everything could go back to normal. Then again, he wasn’t sure if he  _ wanted  _ it to go back to normal. It’d improve his work, probably, but-

“To where?” Rebecca cut into his thoughts. 

“Um…” Dave hadn’t really thought about it. He blurted the first name that came into mind. “New York?” It was where he grew up, so at least it’d be familiar.

“Okay. The next flight to New York is tomorrow. Can you wait that long?”

“Yeah,” Dave said with a small sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler chapter for this one sorry !! things should be picking up again soon. i'll try to post updates on saturdays for this fic :3


	4. Chapter 4

“Sir,” Rebecca opened his office door. “You have a call from your date.”

“A new one?” Dave asked, looking up from his laptop.

“Nope, it’s from… Jack Kennedy.”

“Who’s…?”

“Your date from last week.”

Oh, that was his name! Dave was a lot happier now. Jack.

Jack. Kennedy.

Wasn’t there a president or something named Jack Kennedy?

He’d have to find out later.

Either way he liked it. Jack. It was a nice name.

“Okay! Did he leave a message?”

“Yes, but you should call him back.” Rebecca handed him a piece of paper with a string of numbers on it. 

“Alright, thanks.”

He picked up the phone and, hesitantly, punched the number into his old landline phone. Rebecca had told him it’d be better to get a new one, but he liked it a lot. 

“Hello? This is Jack,” the man’s familiar (only by a few days, but familiar nonetheless) voice spoke. 

“Hiya, Old Sport!” Dave said excitedly. 

“Oh,” Jack sounded surprised, “hi Dave. How are you?”

“Good! I was gonna call, but I didn’t have yer number.” 

Jack’s voice was full of amusement. “Sorry about that. I was going to call but I got held up at work for a bit.”

Dave grinned. “You must have long hours.”

“Yeah… I do.” Jack’s voice was a little… sad? The two were silent for a bit.

“How have you been?” Dave asked excitedly. 

“Pretty good. I’ve missed you.” Jack’s comment made Dave swoon. He was happy about that. And that meant he  _ didn’t  _ mess up! 

“Your plane, Dave.” Rebecca walked in again. 

“Fuck! I…”

“Do you have to go, Dave?” Jack’s voice was a little sad. “I was hoping we could go on another date soon.”

“I-”

“We can go when you get back, right?”

“Yeah! I’ll be back in…” He looked at Rebecca, who was pointing to a specific date on her calendar. “A… a week.”

“...Okay. See you then. Be sure to text me, so I know you don’t die.”

“See you soon, Sportsy!” Dave said happily. He was now regretting this, but he’d have to go eventually. He’d rather go sooner than later, at least. 

“Ah, Dave, you shouldn’t have hung up,” Rebecca said.

“Why?”

“I was going to tell you I accidentally bought two tickets instead of one. So, I got two beds at the hotel you’re staying at as well. You could ask him if he’d like to come with you.”

Dave was ecstatic to hear that. “I’ll call him back right now! Thanks, Rebecca!”

She nodded, and she probably would’ve been smiling. The door closed as she left. 

He punched in Jack’s numbers once more, but he was so excited he accidentally pressed the wrong number so he had to redo it. 

“Dave? Why’re you calling back?” Jack’s voice was a little… annoyed? “Are you hurt?”

“No, I fergot ta ask… D’you wanna come ta New York with me?”

“Huh?!” Jack’s reaction was something like a punch in the gut. 

“Why not?” Dave asked. “It’s fer my company. You don’t even have ta do anything!” 

“We just met!” 

“So?”

“What if you try to kill me or something?!” 

“Why would I try to do that?” 

“I don’t know?!” Jack sighed, his voice lowering in volume. “Sorry. You do get why I’m skeptical though, right?”

“Yeah, I do.” That still didn’t mean it made Dave sad that Jack couldn’t trust him yet. 

Silence on Jack’s side. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the airport in twenty minutes.”

“Great! See you soon, Old Sport!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> does this count as a filler chapter? anyways, it's fast paced for a reason that will be revealed eventually (wink)


	5. Chapter 5

Dave looked over to Jack. He seemed… bored. Dave wanted to say something to him, but he didn’t know exactly what. The orange haired man stared out the window of the airplane, but looked back at Dave when he noticed him staring. 

“What’re you looking at?” Dave asked. He almost stuttered. 

Jack gave a small exasperated smile. “The view.”

“Do you like it?” 

“Yeah. It’s pretty above the clouds.” Jack looked out the window again, and Dave felt a little bit better knowing that he was enjoying it. He caught a glimpse of the window and whole-heartedly agreed with Jack. It was absolutely gorgeous. The clouds were pink from the sun setting, and they looked so fluffy. Dave wanted to eat it.

He rested his head back on his chair, wondering how much longer it would take. It was a little frustrating because he wanted to ask, but for one, Jack wouldn’t know, and two, he’d probably get very annoyed. 

Dave had a tendency to do that.

He yawned. He really needed to sleep. This whole thing just did not feel real. He was a little worried about waking up and it all being simply a dream. Dave closed his eyes and ignored the intense pressure in his ears. 

“Dave,” a firm voice said. Dave felt himself being poked by someone. “We’re here.” 

Dave groaned a bit. He was incredibly warm.

“Dave.” 

He opened his eyes and realized he was quite literally on Jack’s lap. How the hell did that happen? 

“Um, good morning,” Jack said, his face red.

Dave sat up and got off of his… his boyfriend. “Did I sleep all night? Did we even fly that long?” 

Jack laughed a little. “No, I was just saying it to wake you up.”

“I’m up now! Sorry for sleeping on ya.” Dave wasn’t really that embarrassed, but he felt like it was a little improper to sleep on top of someone you only met less than a week ago. 

Jack’s face was still incredibly red, and his eyes darted around to the rest of the first class section. There had only been two other people, and they were both buried in their phones. “It’s alright. We should go now.”

Dave stood up, grabbing their luggage. The two of them only had one each, both small enough to be carry on items. They were only staying two nights anyways. 

The two of them walked out of the plane, and walked out of the airport. It was a little crowded… well, scratch that, it was incredibly crowded. Dave didn’t like the way people brushed up against him, and Jack seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed. 

“Are ya alright?” Dave asked. 

Jack sighed in annoyance. “I hate crowds. They’re so fucking loud.” 

“I hate crowds too. I don’t like touching people much.”

Jack looked at their intertwined hands, then looked into Dave’s eyes with an amused grin. “Really now?”

“I mean… people I don’t know,” Dave mumbled. 

The two continued out of the airport, both exhaling in relief when they left the bustling indoors. The air was crisp and freezing, and fresh white snow blanketed the entire town. On top of the already lain snow, there were snowflakes flitting down. 

“Wow!” Dave couldn’t help himself from gasping. It never was this pretty in the winter when he was growing up on the streets. Then again, it was probably because he was too busy looking for his next meal to really pay attention to his surroundings. 

Jack looked at him with a grin. “Do you like the snow?” 

“Yeah!” He kicked some, touching it with his foot. He wanted to play in the snow so badly. So very badly. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Do you want to play in it?” 

Dave grinned at him. “Absolutely.” He bent over, scooping some up into his hands and turning it into a ball quickly, then threw it onto the concrete ground. It splattered, snow now on the sidewalk. 

“I think that’s enough for now, you’ve made a  _ huge  _ mess,” Jack said with a laugh. Dave felt uneasy at the word choice. It reminded him a lot of how Henry used to get mad at him. Jack stopped laughing and looked at him. “Sorry, I meant that sarcastically,” he mumbled. 

“It’s… it’s alright!” Dave tried not to let it bother him. He didn’t want his time with Jack to be solemn, so he pushed down the absolute terror he felt. “Let’s go to the hotel.”

Jack looked at him weirdly, a little hurt maybe, but nodded. They began walking to their hotel room in silence. It was still gorgeous- there were lights strung up on the trees in every street, and people were happily talking and conversing. 

It was really nice. 

Eventually, the pair made it to the hotel. It was really nice, too. Jack seemed like he was trying not to gasp at all of the fancy looking walls and furniture. Dave would’ve been the same, but he was too fixated on Jack’s excitement instead. His lips curled in amusement. 

Dave got checked in (well, more like he tried to, but he kept spacing out and looking at the wall). By the time he had received the keycard, Jack had sort of wandered off. Dave looked around worriedly, but found the man eventually. He held Jack’s hand, smiling.

“I got the keycards,” He grinned at the man. Jack seemed like he was both flustered and surprised, but smiled back. 

Together, they walked onto the elevator and waited for the door to close. The men were alone in the elegant room. Embroidered fancy designs were etched into the walls, with fancy looking wallpaper. On top of this, an entire wall was made out of glass. Dave could see on the top of all of the bare trees, and the sidewalk, and the people. Slowly, the elevator rose with quiet humming of machinery working. Dave gave a mischievous glance to Jack, and let go of his hand. He jumped up and down, giggling to himself. 

“Dave!” Jack said crossly, or maybe he was panicked..?

“Are you scared of heights?” Dave teased, but stopped jumping. 

The orange haired man looked away. “Maybe.” 

“Oh, sorry.” 

“It’s alright.” 

The elevator door opened, and the pair stopped for a moment so that Dave could look at the keycard to find out which room they were staying in. 

“It should be 635,” Dave said decidedly. They followed the numbers, counting up until they reached it. “Here it is!” He stuck the keycard inside of the slot and waited for a click. After it clicked, he opened the door. 

It smelled faintly of cigarettes. It smelled like Henry. Dave didn’t want to think about it. 

Jack stepped inside, admiring the walls and the decor. “It’s so pretty…” Dave followed, nodding. The wallpaper was a deep red with lighter red fancy designs, and the cabinets and dressers had cream colored lamps. The curtains looked almost like silk as well. 

“Yeah! I-” Dave stopped in his place as the faint, but very prominent smell of cigarette ash hit his nose. It reminded him of Henry. He didn’t want to remember Henry. He frowned, and sighed angrily. Then, he ignored it. Or tried to. It went to the back of his mind when he noticed that there was only one bed. He sat down on it. 

Jack jumped into the bed immediately, right next to Dave. “I’m tired,” Jack said. “I think I have jetlag.” 

“That makes sense,” Dave said, his cheeks very warm at being so close to Jack. He’d happily share a bed with the man any moment of the day, but he didn’t want Jack to feel uncomfortable. Luckily, though, the orange haired man seemed too tired to care. The pair got under the blankets in their normal clothes, both exhausted. Their bags too, were unpacked, and they’d most likely remain so until the morning. 

“You’re quite sly,” Jack said with a smile. 

Dave looked at him curiously.

“Well, I’ve… seen a lot of movies I suppose. Having to share a bed gives a lot of romantic tension to audiences,” Jack explained, his eyes slightly wide. 

“Ah, well! I didn’t do this- I bet it was my assistant, honestly!” 

Jack seemed amused by his floundering. “Really now?” 

Dave fidgeted with his hands, not meeting eye contact. Then, he regained his composure. “What kinda… things do they do in the movies? When they share a bed?” He gave a grin now. 

It was Jack’s turn to flounder. His skin turned dark. “Well, t-the… they…” He coughed, looking away. “Nothing. Nothing important, anyways.” 

Dave was a little disappointed he couldn’t tease the man any longer, but he didn’t push it any further. He yawned, covering himself with the covers again. He was tired now, and his eyelids weighed down to the point where his eyes hurt. 

“Good night, Jack,” Dave said. "I'm really happy 'm here with ya." 

Jack looked like he wanted to say something. His face had reverted back to its natural shade earlier, but now it was red again. “I-” His voice, and facial expression, seemed downright horrified, but as Dave was about to ask him if he was okay, he cleared his throat. “Good night.”

Dave was utterly confused, but decided to go to sleep anyways. He’d figure it out in the morning. 


	6. Chapter 6

Dave woke up entangled with Jack. 

It was still dark out, and the clock read an ungodly hour. The man’s curly orange hair tickled his face, but he didn’t fully process their shared position until at least a minute later. Jack was lying on top of Dave, and had wrapped his arms around Dave’s body, like he was clinging to him desperately. He had a severely troubled look on his face. Dave didn’t like the way he frowned. Sleep was supposed to be relaxing. Maybe he was having a bad dream?

Probably. His fingers were twitching on Dave’s waist, and he let out a scared whimper. Dave’s arms had laid flat against the man’s back but he ran them through Jack’s hair. The orange haired man had stopped whimpering and leaned into the touch. Dave wondered if he should wake him up, because it made him sad to see Jack so upset (even if he wasn’t conscious). 

Dave shifted around a bit, trying to get comfortable. The sheets itched like crazy, and he wasn’t all that fond of scratchy surfaces. He managed to move the sheets away from the two of them successfully without waking Jack-

“Dave?” The man murmured softly, his voice groggy from sleep. 

Oops.

“Yeah?” 

“How long have we been sleeping?” The man yawned. 

Dave looked at the blinds. “Not long enough,” he said. It was true- it was mostly dark, spare the light emitting from buildings. “You can go back to sleep.” 

The man sighed, cuddling closer. His skin was warm. “I don’t feel good,” Jack said. 

“Did you have a bad dream?” 

“Um… yeah.” 

“It might be the jetlag,” Dave offered.

Jack waved it off. “M’fine. I just need to sleep a bit more.” 

Dave looked at him worriedly, but nodded. “I’ll wake you up when it’s morning.” He thought it was rather off he didn’t even seem to notice their position, but maybe he was fine with it. Dave smiled to himself. He had a boyfriend. 

He almost didn’t want to sleep. He just wanted to lie here and admire Jack in the faint artificial light filtering from the blinds, but he felt tiredness nagging at him. He reached around and his hands touched a soft blanket. He threw it over the two of them (winter at night was horrible in New York) and snuggled in. 

Dave woke the next morning to a bright light in his face. He wanted to shut his eyes and go back to sleep so badly. He had just begun to doze off again when he felt someone shake his arm. 

“Dave,” he heard a voice murmur. He opened his eyes to Jack looking at him. 

“Good morning,” Dave said. He and Jack must’ve moved around a bit in their sleep, because now Dave had his face in Jack’s chest as the man’s arms were wrapped around Dave. It was really nice, but he was extremely aware of how warm Jack was right now. A lot warmer than last night, that was for sure. 

He closed his eyes as the man spoke. “I’m still tired,” Jack confessed. “And cold.” That was a little concerning, but the thought left Dave’s mind when the man’s hand took his chin, tilting it to look up. Dave opened his eyes and felt flustered as Jack brought their lips closer and closer. 

The orange haired man stopped barely an inch in front of his lips. 

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” His voice was low and scratchy, but it was pretty. 

Dave was so surprised that he almost couldn’t answer for a moment. “It’s fine, Sportsy.” He looked at Jack’s tired face, his pale scars standing out on his darker skin. His eyes looked almost like honey in the sunlight leaking in through the blinds. Jack was absolutely gorgeous. How Dave managed to find him, he had no idea. 

He grinned at the man. Here, in this hotel, miles away from home, he realized he was absolutely in love with this man. Jack smiled back, somewhat shyly. 

“Jack-” Dave started, but was cut off by the man shushing him with his finger. 

“Don’t speak,” he said softly. “Your voice is loud. S’ giving me a headache.” 

“Oh, sorry,” Dave mumbled. “We should go see what’s around.” 

The orange haired man rested his head on Dave’s chest. “I’m still kinda tired.” 

“That’s fine. I need to check up on the Freddy’s around here.” Dave got up, letting go of his boyfriend. “You can sleep, and I’ll come back to check on ya later. We could get dinner if ya wanna.” 

Jack reached for Dave’s arm, dragging him back into bed. The purple haired man fell with an  _ oof!  _ and landed next to Jack. He hugged Dave. 

“Or not,” Dave said with a smile. He could wait a bit. 

After a long bit of coaxing, Dave managed to bring Jack outside. He was more well rested at least, but Dave was starting to regret making him come out, because he seemed a little out of it. Still, he needed to check on the nearby Freddy’s, and Jack had insisted on staying close to him. 

He walked inside of the location. It was a pretty interesting one, considering it was in New York. It had multiple stories, each with a different theme. Dave was pretty happy about it, and it was very popular too. While he could’ve checked up over the phone, it was always nice to visit the phones there, and he just wanted to be sure it’d turn out fine. Jack sat down at a table while Dave talked to the manager.

“Did you like it there?” Dave asked once they were outside. It was around noon at this point. He didn’t think it would take that long, but he was happy that Jack stuck around. 

“I’m cold,” Jack said, latching onto his arm tightly. 

“Maybe ya could borrow my scarf,” Dave offered. “And gloves?” 

Jack looked at him for a moment, then took the man’s hands and smiled sweetly. “I don’t need gloves when your hands could warm me up real nice.” 

Dave smiled. “That’s cheesy, Sportsy.” 

“I know, I couldn’t help myself. I will take your scarf though, but I want to hold hands too.” Dave gave the man his scarf, then held his hands. He noticed, again, how warm he was. He realized he had forgotten about it earlier, and opened his mouth to ask. “Oh, wait look! An ice skating rink!” 

He dragged Dave along, happily looking at the rink. 

“Can we skate?” 

“Well, I-” Dave hadn’t skated in a while. It had been years, actually.

Jack had already begun taking off his shoes, leaning against Dave. He then walked away to a stand giving out ice skates, and put down some money on the counter. The orange haired man said something to the person behind the stand, and they handed him a pair of ice skates. Dave then realized he was staring, and followed him quickly. He put down money, and told the person behind the counter his shoe size. Then, he quickly laced up the shoes and stood next to Jack. 

“Ready?” Jack said with a grin. 

“Always ready, Old Sport!” He hid his hesitance with a grin.

The orange haired man stepped onto the ice, almost immediately falling. He quickly grabbed the nearest thing, which was Dave himself. He turned red, and began apologizing, but Dave stepped on the ice as well to join him. 

Jack’s arms were wrapped, once more, around Dave’s torso. It looked like he wanted to move but his head remained rested on the purple haired man’s chest. Dave felt airy and light with happiness. 

“Don’t ya wanna skate?” He asked. 

“Maybe I’ll just stay here for a bit,” Jack said with a smile. 

Dave gave a chuckle. “Have you even skated before?” 

The orange haired man remained silent, burying his face in Dave’s shirt. There’d be less of a height difference if Dave’s legs and neck weren’t so long, maybe. His limbs were just pretty long in general though. It made him look like a giraffe. He couldn’t say he really liked that about himself. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Jack pulled away. He held Dave’s hand.

“Do ya wanna try going slow at first then? I can help you,” Dave offered. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Show off much?”

“Only for you,” He said with a grin, slowly beginning to pull his boyfriend along. They were passed by other people skating quickly, but Dave felt fine going at the pace. He really enjoyed it, actually. Jack kept sneaking glances at him, a smile on his face. 

The two continued, circling the rink a few times slowly. “Can we go faster now?” Jack asked. 

“Yeah, but you gotta be balanced so we don’t both fall over,” Dave said. “Ready?” 

The man nodded excitedly, and Dave kicked the ice, pulling him along. The speed built up until the two were speeding past other people, laughing loudly. 

“We’re going too fast!” Jack said, wobbling. His hand was still in Dave’s and it caused him to almost fall over.

The purple haired man almost replied with a cocky response, turning his head, but his skate collided with a bump. It happened almost in slow motion- he fell to the freezing floor and brought Jack with him, who landed right next to him. 

“Seriously?! How is there a stupid  _ bump  _ in ice?! It’s supposed to be smooth!” Dave raged, but looked back at Jack and saw him giggling. “What’s so funny?”

“Come on, I totally predicted that,” Jack said with a laugh. 

Dave pretended to be mad, but stood up anyways. He held his hand out for Jack, who took it and (shakily) managed to cling onto the wall for support. He coughed a little, which made Dave remember how warm he was earlier, and how he might be delirious. He  _ had  _ hoped that the man was just having fun, but his heart sank in disappointment when he realized Jack was most likely sick. 

“Are you sick?” Dave asked. 

“No,” Jack said. “I’m having fun.” 

“We should leave if yer not feeling good,” Dave continued. Henry once told him that sick people usually denied they were sick if they were delirious. He didn’t know if it was true or not but he was pretty sure Jack had a fever. He didn’t want to risk it. “It might get worse, and our flight is leaving tomorrow mornin’ as well. Ya need’a re-” 

Jack exhaled sharply, grabbing the man’s shoulders and somehow standing on the ends of his toes. Dave leaned down a bit, thinking he’d just talk to him a bit quieter. 

“You’re such a talker. I’m gonna shut you up now,” he said. 

Jack kissed Dave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so behind on writing sorry [sobs]
> 
> hope you guys enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn’t any sort of grand gesture- if anything, Dave was extremely aware of how warm his lips were. But, he felt himself leaning in, feeling Jack’s arms wrap around his neck. The two parted after another moment, and Dave could see his breath in the air as he panted for air. Jack’s arms remained around him though, and he was grateful for the support. He was so taken aback (pleasantly, of course) that he had almost fallen over. 

Jack was a good kisser. Dave _had_ definitely kissed people before, so he did know how to kiss. But he couldn’t help but feel surprised by how giddy the kiss made him feel. 

“Looks like it worked,” Jack said with a smile. 

“What worked?” Dave asked in a daze. 

The orange haired man gave a giggle. “Shutting you up.” 

“Sportsy, you-” Dave was about to begin lecturing Jack about his very apparent sickness when the man took his hand and pulled him along. 

“Let’s skate a bit more,” Jack said with a grin. 

“We really should get ya back to the hotel. Yer sick.” Dave _should’ve_ realized much earlier that he was delirious. He started feeling guilty now, a horrible feeling in his chest. The feeling sat heavy and he absolutely hated it. Jack wasn’t starting to warm up to him, he was just sick. Dave had hoped he had broken through to the man but clearly not. 

Jack frowned, but yawned. Dave was thankful that he didn’t have to convince him anymore. He’d try to take good care of him before they left tomorrow morning. 

The orange haired man remained quiet as he held his hand, leading him back to the hotel through the long buildings and huge groups of people. Jack eventually held tightly onto Dave’s arm, using all of his body weight to lean into him. 

The pair walked into the hotel, riding the elevator up quietly. Dave couldn’t shake the guilt of forcing him to come out with him when he could’ve been resting. Jack looked anxiously at the glass wall, and breathed a sigh of relief when they walked out. 

Jack flopped onto the bed the moment Dave unlocked the door. He seemed to instantly crash. The purple haired man went to get onto the bed, but paused to reconsider. After a few moments he moved to the bed. 

“Sorry,” Dave mumbled. “I’m gonna sleep on the couch.” 

Jack seemed to dislike this. He snatched Dave’s hand and pulled him down, constricting him with his arms. “I’m cold,” Jack sighed. Dave wasn’t complaining, especially because being trapped like this was nice. His boyfriend's body was warm, wrapping around him indefinitely and shielding him from everything else. 

He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

“How’s everything over there?” Dave asked on the phone the next morning. He looked at Jack’s sleeping body as he put his clothes away into his suitcase. He had managed to wriggle away from Jack’s embrace to prepare them to leave. He briefly wondered if he should go get some medicine for Jack. 

Rebecca sighed, her voice causing Dave to snap his head up in alarm. “Well, the usual, but… something else too.” 

“What’s that?” He questioned, not entirely paying attention. 

She replied by giving him a brief rundown of a few incidents. “Some locations had called to say that someone kept stealing items from the Dumpsters and the supplies.” Dave wanted to brush it off as a raccoon or an employee but something told him he should worry about it. It sat in the corner of his brain, nagging him for a few minutes as he continued to put his things into his suitcase. So worry he did. 

“Could you write each of the locations down so I can call each of them individually?” He asked, realizing he had been silent for the past five minutes. He was grateful to Rebecca that she didn’t instantly hang up on him. 

“Of course,” Rebecca replied. There was quiet scribbling for a minute. 

Dave smiled to himself, then remembered that he should ask her about her girlfriend to be polite. “How’s Caroline?”

“Good. Thanks for asking.” 

“Great! Tell her I said hi.” 

Rebecca let out a slight sigh. “I will. So how was the trip with Jack?”

“We’ve been having a bunch of fun,” Dave said happily. “And we even kissed, too!” 

“You just met him not even two weeks ago and you’ve already kissed?” Rebecca’s voice was surprised, yes, but something about it threw Dave off. “Aren’t you two moving a little fast?”

“Well, er, maybe… But he doesn’t seem very uncomfortable with it!”

“Oh, well that’s good. Go at your own pace then, I suppose.” Rebecca’s tone returned to normal, and it left Dave wondering what it was. “I’ll talk to you when you get back. I’d love to hear all of it later.” 

“Alrighty! Talk to ya soon,” Dave said, hanging up. 

He continued to pack his things, then put Jack’s items into his suitcase as well. The purple haired man would wake him up when they were almost going to leave. He wanted to give Jack as much time as he could to rest. 

Once he was done, Dave sat down onto the bed next to his body and waited. His mind drifted to a couple of things, from Jack to the restaurants having troubles. Then, to Jack again. And then to date ideas on where to bring him, and then to his fever. 

Jack then groaned in his sleep, jolting up suddenly. 

“Dave?” He almost whispered. 

He turned straight to him. “Yeah?” 

“Are you alright?” His voice was strained, and it made Dave upset. 

“Of course I am, Sportsy. Do ya need some water or something?” He asked.

“No, I just…” Jack seemed frightened. “Had a bad dream, I suppose.” 

“That’s alright, Old Sport. We leave in thirty minutes fer the plane. Do ya think you’ll be up to it?” 

“Yeah. I’ll take you up on your offer for water, though,” Jack said. “I’m parched.” 

Dave stood up, getting a paper cup from the side of the sink and filling it up. He handed it to Jack and sat back down on the bed next to Jack. The man gulped it down quickly, then set it down on a dresser. 

“Thank you,” Jack said. “I’m ready to leave whenever.” 

“Are you sure? You don’t feel sick or anything?” 

“I'm fine,” Jack rolled his eyes. “I’ve survived worse.”

Dave shrugged. “Alright, Sportsy.” 

The pair of men dragged their suitcases across the pavement, hurriedly walking to the airport to make it in time. Dave really wished he had gotten a taxi or something because of Jack’s fever. He was struggling to keep up, but grinned at Dave when he had asked if he could carry his suitcase. 

Usually, getting to the front gate took ages, but for the first time it was very fast _Maybe it’s because Jack is here,_ Dave thought, but brushed it off with a thought. 

The airport smelled like cigarettes and chemicals, and the crowds were a lot less than usual (to Dave’s relief). Jack practically put all of his weight onto Dave, his skin still very warm. Dave was very worried at this point. He’d try to take care of him when they got back to Dave’s house. 

Dave rested his head on Jack’s, looking out the window. 

The clouds grazed the plane’s wings, and the pink from the sunrise made it all the more beautiful. As great as New York was, Dave was beginning to feel homesick. 

He was happy to go back. 


	8. Chapter 8

“You can stay at my place for a little bit,” Dave offered the moment the pair had gotten their bags from the carousel, but Jack was already shaking his head. 

“I have my own apartment I need to get back to, sorry Davey.” The nickname caused Dave’s face to heat up, much to Jack’s amusement. The man giggled. “I have a cat I gotta take care of, and a whole job too.” 

“I could at least take ya there. Yer sick.” 

Jack waved him off. “I’ll be fine.” 

“I’ll see ya soon then?” Dave was hopeful. 

“Of course.”

“And you’ll rest, ‘nd try ta get over yer fever too?” 

Jack shrugged. “I’ll try, but I missed out on a lot of work. They’ll probably need me a lot.” 

Much to Dave’s disappointment, Jack simply hugged him, then disappeared into the sea of people. He was hoping for a kiss, but then again the man  _ was  _ sick. And they had just spent days together. He at least hoped he’d get better soon. 

Dave heard the doorbell and jumped up instantly, running to the doorbell as quickly as he could. Jack had texted him to let him know that he was coming over, much to his surprise. He opened the door and saw his boyfriend in a jacket and mud covered boots. He was looking at him expectantly. 

“Old Sport?” Dave was surprised at the sight. 

“Follow me,” Jack said with a smile. 

“You’re still sick,” Dave replied with a frown. 

“It’s fine, it’ll just take a few minutes. I promise.” 

Dave was extremely troubled by this, but was more than a little curious to see what he wanted to show him. Eventually he gave in. “Alright, but you’re coming in to rest afterwards.” 

It was a little past 5 PM, meaning the sun was about to start going down soon. It was actually on its way at this point. Jack led him by the hand, dragging him out of the neighborhood and to… somewhere. He followed in silence, trusting his boyfriend.

“You have a nice house,” Jack commented. His hand wasn’t as warm anymore, Dave observed. 

“Thanks, Old Sport!” Dave wanted to ask Jack to move in, but the thought quickly left his mind. “Where are we going again?” 

“You’ll see.” 

The pair continued to walk, getting off of the sidewalk and going into a forest. The thicket was, well, thick, brambles snagging onto Dave’s jeans he had haphazardly thrown on earlier. Tall trees loomed over the two men as they made it through the woods. 

Dave’s lungs struggled, aching in the cool air. He was grateful for his jacket, at least, but his shoe laces kept getting caught in the thicket. Each time, he had to stop and untangle it. Jack stopped and waited each time with no look of annoyance, just a curious patience. 

Finally, the trees began to clear and made way for a lake. The sun’s light shimmered and danced on the water. Lush grass and multi-colored flowers swayed in the gentle breeze. It was absolutely gorgeous. Dave felt like he was intruding. The place was absolutely untouched. 

“Wow, Sportsy-” 

“Nice, right?” Jack grinned at him. His gap tooth was cute, although Dave usually forgot he had it. 

“How’d ya find this?” Dave asked curiously, following Jack as he continued to walk to the lake.

The man finally stopped a few feet away from the water and lied down, looking at the ever darkening sky. Dave flopped down next to him with a wheeze, his breath catching in his throat for a moment. 

“It’s so nice out,” Dave commented. 

Jack nodded with a smile, but didn’t reply. For a moment, Dave was worried he wanted to break up. The fear was shortlived. He simply yawned. Dave shamed himself for being so quick to jump to ideas. 

“I like coming here sometimes,” Jack said. “It’s nice to get away.” 

“It’s beautiful, Sportsy. How’d ya find it?” 

The man shrugged, staying silent for a bit. A few grass stems tickled Dave’s exposed ankles, but he didn’t exactly mind it. A quiet breeze caused the grass to waver, and the branches of the trees swayed in the distance, but otherwise it was completely quiet. Dave’s mind drifted to Jack. He seemed like the kind of person to take much longer to warm up to him, but he seemed to be a lot more open. 

“What’s with you?” Jack asked out of the blue. 

“Me?”

“What’s your story?” 

He was a little confused. “What’d ya mean?” 

Jack looked at him. “Your life. I wanna hear about it.” 

Dave scratched the back of his head. “It’s a bit of a sob story. You don’t wanna hear that.” 

“I do,” Jack said. 

“Er,” He hesitated for a moment, but continued to speak. “I grew up on the streets of New York as an orphan. I was adopted by H-” He paused. “Someone. He had a lotta money, ‘nd was a great business man. I’d been livin’ with him even after I turned 18- we were business partners.”

Jack looked at him intensely. “And?”

“One day, he just… left. Gave the entire company ta me. Left a note saying not to ruin it, and to find someone.” 

“That’s awful. Just out of nowhere?”

Dave nodded. “He wasn’t… the best role model, let alone parental figure. I don’t exactly miss ‘im.” 

“Huh.”

“And you?”

Jack was quiet for a minute. Maybe more than just one. It went by pretty slow. He was about to ask again when the orange haired man spoke. “I had a little sister,” Jack sighed. 

“Had?” Dave questioned. 

“Yeah. She ran away a little while after our parents died and my brother had left us. Couldn’t find her after years of searching, so I just… gave up.” 

Dave looked at him in alarm. “That’s… terrible. I’m sorry ta hear that.” 

“Not your fault,” Jack shrugged. “I still like to think she’s alive somewhere, although everyone I’ve ever met that knows about it says she’s dead.”He was quiet for a moment, staring into the water like he was mourning something. Then, he made eye contact.

“Thank ya for being so open with me,” Dave said. 

The other man’s eyes were brimming with tears that shone in the little light the sun was able to provide. He felt really bad- he couldn’t imagine losing someone like that. Then again, he never exactly had siblings, so he genuinely couldn’t. Nobody had been very close to him, except for Henry. And even then, he wasn’t the most affectionate. Either way, he wanted to help Jack somehow. Maybe that was the reason he was so closed off at first (forgetting the whole fever thing). 

The orange haired man flashed a small grin at him. “Thank you for listening.” 

“So how did you get those scars, then?” Jack froze, the smile falling from his face. Dave realized maybe he shouldn’t have asked that. “Ya don’t gotta tell me if you don’t wanna.” 

Jack looked back onto the lake. In a moment of slight amusement, Dave thought his hair color matched the sunset. Quickly, though, he dropped the thought. He felt bad for asking that. He also looked out on the lake, the sun dipping into the water. It was about to start getting colder, but maybe it’d help Jack’s fever, which was now slowly going down. 

He suddenly had a really fan-fucking-tastic idea. He turned to Jack once more. “What if I help ya find her?” 

Jack straightened his back. “Huh?” 

“Yeah! I could help. If ya’d let me?” 

“She’s been gone for years, but…” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed, deep in concentration. Dave loved it when he did that. He wanted to kiss every inch of his face at that moment, but Jack spoke before he made a move. “Yeah. That sounds nice.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, of course, silly.” Jack’s lighthearted mood was back, and he enjoyed it a lot. He pounced onto Dave with a grin, tackling him back into the grass. 

“Sportsy!” He cried in surprise. 

The man had him pinned, smiling down at him playfully. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss onto his lips. Dave stared up lovingly at Jack, trying to memorize the image in his head. He truly did love him, but he felt almost guilty about it. It seemed so strange that they had only met a month or so ago. It felt like it had been multiple lifetimes. 

Jack got up, helping Dave get up from the ground. He looked and saw he had made an imprint in the grass.

“Let’s go back now,” Jack offered. Dave nodded- even with his jacket, it was freezing. 

The sky was a dark red now, the same dark crimson shade of blood. His face became colder from the air. For some reason, even with how happy he just was, Dave felt nothing but dread. 


	9. Chapter 9

“Do you have to go to work tomorrow?” Dave asked. 

He still couldn’t shake that horrible feeling. But, he hoped it’d go away soon. The two had trudged back to Dave’s house and Jack was sitting on the couch as the purple haired man rearranged pillows for him to sleep in. 

Jack took a drink of the tea that Dave had given him. He asked for coffee, but Dave didn’t have any seeing as he never drank any. Luckily, he  _ did  _ drink tea (a habit he had picked up from Henry), so he gave some to Jack. 

“Nah, I’ve been taking work off for the past few days. Y’know, being sick and all.” He grinned at Dave, but it seemed kind of forced. Actually, the more he thought about it, everything about how Jack was acting seemed forced. It had been wishful thinking to hope that a stranger had been so friendly with him. He stopped rearranging the couch for a moment, staring into space as he held the pillows. 

Jack looked at him curiously. “Are you alright?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Yeah.”

Jack nodded, however eyed him moving around. He took a sip of his drink. 

“Do ya wanna just sleep in my bed?” Dave asked, then felt his face turn red realizing how that sounded. 

“If that’s alright…” 

Dave put down the pillows he was holding and took Jack’s hand, leading him to the bedroom. It was mostly silent, spare the two men’s footsteps on the floor. Dave was absolutely exhausted, but  _ still  _ the horrible feeling kept making him think. 

His mind reeled with possibilities. Jack’s sister was gone, but… he couldn’t make sense of it. It made his head spin and his boy ache. The purple haired man finally made it to his bedroom, opening the door. 

“Wow,” Jack gasped. “Your ceiling is beautiful…” 

The other man smiled, happy for a brief moment at how Jack marveled at the ceiling. He still does react in wonder sometimes, when he’s alone and tired of looking at the dead walls of his office. But Dave, too, reacted like that when Henry first left and he was able to go into his room for the first time. Not exactly fondly, he remembered shyly sleeping in that bed for the first time, waking up in fear that Henry would rip him from the sheets and hurt him again. 

He lied down, making room for his boyfriend. Jack flopped down, cozying up to him. It took a while, but after some fidgeting he got comfortable. And a few minutes after that, Jack fell asleep. 

Dave stayed awake. 

Jack nuzzled his neck in his sleep. The man’s skin was still warm. Maybe the blanket wasn’t helping very much. Dave gave him some of the cough syrup that he had when he was sick, even if Jack wasn’t coughing. He was a little bit scared it was more than just a fever. Either way, it seemed to be slowing down a bit, so he’d just wait it out for a bit longer. 

He still couldn’t shake the feeling of absolute dread. He couldn’t explain what it was, really. But it nagged at him, eating him from the inside out. He sat up, causing Jack to let go of his hold around him. The shorter man’s eyes opened blearily, and he looked at him like he wasn’t sure what his surroundings were. 

“Do you-” Dave started, with a shaky voice. He cleared his throat to try and get rid of the anxiety caught, but it didn’t do anything. He pressed on anyways. “Do ya genuinely like me? We’re- We just met a while ago. Old Sport…” 

Jack stared at him with a blank expression. He hated it. He wished he could read minds.

“I just- Strangers don’t usually act like this so quickly,” he added, but it made it worse.

“I-” Jack started. “I can’t tell you.” His voice was full of a sorrow so strong that he couldn’t even comprehend it. It took him by surprise.

Dave’s heart twisted. “Why not?” 

The man crawled out of the bed, standing up. “I need to go.” 

“Wait, Sportsy- I-” 

Jack began walking out of his room. He didn’t look back. “I’ll text you.” 

Dave stared after him, wondering what he did wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> afraid this and the next one will be kinda short <3 . it's been a bit difficult to write lately i hope you guys can forgive me ;w;


	10. Chapter 10

Jack didn’t text back.

Not for another two weeks, at least. 

Dave texted him every day, waiting for him at the phone. Rebecca told him it was unhealthy, and that he should focus on something else, or at least take a few days off of work, but he told her he was fine. Instead, he moped around his office and half heartedly did some of his job. 

Every single time, he perked up when the phone rang. No matter what he was doing, he picked up his phone and accepted the call. And each time, it wasn’t from Jack. Dave was starting to lose hope. 

He yawned, thinking about how tired he was. He had spent most of last night waiting by his phone for something from Jack. He played with a pen boredly when Rebecca knocked on his door. 

“Come in,” Dave told her. 

“It’s six PM,” she told him. “I’m going home.” 

“Already?” He asked in alarm, looking at the clock. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, sir,” Rebecca said. 

Dave waved. “See you tomorrow Rebecca.” 

He rested his head back down and waited for the sound of the door to shut. Then, silence. Maybe he could take a nap. If he was lucky, he could fall asleep for the rest of the night here. It was his office. Who cared.

He heard a door open and figured that Rebecca must’ve forgotten her keys or something. Dave didn’t say anything, just shutting his eyes and waiting for her to leave again. It was a little weird she didn’t announce herself, though-

“Dave?” A familiar voice spoke. 

He opened his eyes to see Jack looked at him curiously. 

“I’m sorry, Dave,” Jack started instantly. “There are a lot of things going on, and I just-” 

He couldn’t finish, because Dave tackled him into a hug. “Apology accepted! I missed ya Sportsy!” 

“Dave! Let me finish-” 

He kissed Jack’s cheek, holding him tight. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, I swear, I really don’t need to-”

“Dave.” Jack said sternly. Dave let go, pulling back and realizing how serious he was being. He didn’t exactly enjoy it. He felt like a scolded puppy. 

“Sorry…” 

The man grimaced. “There are some things that I… That I just don’t want to tell you. Not yet, anyways. I’m sorry about that.” 

It hurt that he couldn’t trust him. But Dave was right- they were still strangers. And he could respect that. 

He gave Jack a hug, but more of a comforting one. “I understand.” The man looked at him in some kind of surprise, but he nodded.

As happy as Dave was to be back with Jack, he couldn’t help but feel a little… weird. He didn’t know how to explain it. 

“How did you know where my office was?”

Jack bashfully looked away, like something from an anime or something. Dave briefly smiled at the comparison he made, then snapped back in surprise when he remembered he had asked Jack a question. “I uh, looked up your business and found a card online.” 

“Oh. Fair enough,” Dave said with a grin. “Do you want to go get dinner?” 

The orange haired man (although Dave was just now realizing that his roots were brown- he probably hadn’t dyed his hair in a while) seemed taken aback by the idea, but nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading !! <33
> 
> comments and criticism is appreciated !!
> 
> instagram: slushyishere  
> twitter: slushyisdead  
> tumblr: slushyishere


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